LETTERS TO DATEBOOK

Published 4:00 am, Tuesday, November 7, 2000

ARTISTS ARE VITAL TO CITY LIFE

Editor -- I am moved to anger, frustration and sadness by Neva Chonin and Dan Levy's article ("No Room for the Arts: The economic boom threatens to kill off S.F.'s cutting-edge culture," Oct. 17). I have watched the recent changes, feeling powerless. I have always taken pride in the city for its bohemian spirit and inspirational creativity. Now I fear that it will be lost and that I will never be able to raise my kids in the same geographic area or culturally artistic environment that my mother and grandmother were born into.

I think we may be at the point of no return. But thank you for increasing the public's awareness of the reality of a lost culture.

Editor -- As a person of conscience, I must respond to Tom Merle's letter (Letters, Oct. 31). He says San Francisco artists should "get out of Dodge," move on to make room for those who "contribute" to the city and society.

I've never picked up a paintbrush, danced onstage or been in a professional stage production, but I think artists are important to the soul of a city. What's next, all mothers out? Nonprofit and volunteer workers given one-way tickets to Bakersfield? Better yet, let's build a Berlin Wall around San Francisco, locking all inhabitants inside so they can work and sweat, sweat and work.

JOHN M. FLANAGAN

Colma

Editor -- Merle, and those who share his view, please bear in mind that without these "artists," San Francisco would be just another city, albeit with spectacular views and architecture, instead of the vibrant, eclectic breeding ground and home that it has been for beatniks, hippies and punks. We may not have built this city solely on rock 'n' roll, but the arts damn well contributed.

Editor -- I wonder if Tom Merle has thought of what "contributing people" would do without the architecture they live in or the dot-com people would do without music to play on their ads or designers to make their logos and Web sites.

TROY PEEPLES

San Francisco

Editor -- So, artists don't contribute to society? What world does Merle live in? Without artists, San Francisco is just another city with pretty houses. Exactly what does he think makes this such an interesting and beautiful city? I don't think I have ever heard anyone say, "I love coming to San Francisco, there are just so many great businessmen there."

DARWIN BELL

and BRYAN READ San Francisco

Editor -- Day after day we read about how artists and musicians are being evicted from San Francisco. My question is, where have these people been?

They haven't noticed? So engrossed in their art, they didn't see that "the times they are a' changin'?" We all live in a capitalist economy. Twenty-five years ago, your loft space was a factory where blue-collar people made something. That changed, and you rented it. Now someone else is renting it at four times the price. Where's the beef?

I am not that old, yet I remember when there were farms in Alameda County. The Nimitz Freeway (now I-880) stopped outside of Hayward and didn't start again until San Jose. Millions of people have moved here since then.

Things change. Indeed, change is just about the only thing one can count on. Go make your art somewhere else. Or buy some property.

I don't really care if you are an "artiste." The hand-wringing will get you nowhere.

'NUMBERS' REVIEW DECEIVES MOVIEGOERS

Editor --
Mick LaSalle
's glowing review of "Lucky Numbers" ("More Than Just 'Lucky': Travolta, Kudrow lead talented cast," Oct. 27) is as deceiving as its trailers, which mislead audiences into believing that this is a funny film instead of the perverse trash it truly is. LaSalle describes the film as a bit of "fluff," a showcase for "comic" actors, a "gentle" commentary.

Where is the fluff in a plot that revolves around backstabbing, betrayal and vicious killings, punctuated by a constant barrage of foul language and intermingled with gratuitous sex scenes? What is so gentle about a film in which all the characters are so reprehensible, so devoid of ethics and morals, so rotten to the depths of their decayed souls that the audience has no reason to root for any of them? What is so comic about a movie in which ruthless, amoral individuals kill without a second thought and display not a flicker of remorse afterward?

LaSalle's advisory makes no mention of the incessant violence or graphic sex. I suggest that he be required to refund the admission of anyone who sees this on the basis of his review.

THOMAS C. RIZZO

San Francisco

PARKER'S COLUMN PERPETUATES STEREOTYPES

Editor -- I cannot take another piece of liberal Caucasian comment on
Susan Parker
's sensitivity in parroting Mrs. Scott and friends.

Blacks thoroughly resent her depiction of Mrs. Scott et al. Whether or not people speak like that is not the point. The point is that it perpetuates a clownish stereotype that whites, admittedly or not, wallow in. If you don't believe it, view Jan Faulkner's exhibition "Ethnic Notions 2000: Black Images in the White Mind," going on now at the Berkeley Arts Center.

Get a grip, white folks. Parker and her ilk take great pleasure (horrifyingly unacknowledged) at seeing us black folks as inferior, no matter how it's shown -- drive-by shootings, crime, welfare, inner-city schools. Mention any of them and people think "black."

Editor -- I, too, took exception to the unpleasant letter from J. Rossmann (Letters to Datebook, Oct. 17), which criticized Susan Parker's manner of writing about her friend Mrs. Scott.

How absurd to fulminate about a woman who obviously cares honestly about the people she comes to know and respect in her daily life.

ELIZABETH FILMER

Berkeley

CARROLL MISSED HALLOWEEN'S JOYS

Editor -- Regarding
Jon Carroll
's Halloween article (Oct. 31): When we look back over our lives, isn't it the love, friendliness and shared joys that make life worthwhile? I love watching the little tykes with their great getups coming around.

Every year I put on my crazy clown hat, wear funny slippers, paint my face and go kicking my heels to the door, greeting the kids with a "Happy Halloweeeheeheeheeeen." Each year, "happy" is truly my theme: Why scare the little ones? Halloween is about neighbors sharing, having fun and making kids feel loved. Now that is what I call a holiday with an important point!

Incidentally, to get around the addictive-candy issue, I bought prizes at MacFrugal's for 99 cents per 12-pack. I offered the kids candy and prizes, but many wanted only the prizes. Others were trick-or-treating for UNICEF. What a hope, unselfishness and joy -- we can choose to celebrate that way!

DRINA BROOKE

Novato
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